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Reviews
Family Feud (1999)
Entertaining but troubled
I watch Family Feud frequently. How can you not when between local affiliates and The Game Show Network it airs something 14 times a day. I appreciate the show but only as my pre bedtime entertainment ( not that it puts me to sleep). The show as it's been since it's inception in 1977 with then and now late host, Richard Dawson remains fun and even intriguing to play along with at home. With all due to respect to current host Steve Harvey's predecessors ( the late Richard Dawson, Ray Coombs and Louie Anderson) and the still with us Richard Karns and John O' Hurley, I like Harvey the best. Steve is lively, always on and bursting with personality. True, Steve sometimes goes over the top with obnoxious too long charades ( that should be edited out before broadcast) but nonetheless his ability to guide the show professionally is without question. However, that said, in general the show is not without flaws, some serious. There are two main troubling miscues about the show and worse bith are constant, perennial and go seemingly unresolved or uncared about even. One flaw is that when the contestants have to guess the survey answers they often get points and credit for matching less than obvious and in some cases even asinine answers that shouldn't be up on the survey result board to begin with. I actually think in this case the producers themselves should rewrite some of the public's survey answers even if that sounds like cheating. Plus when they have a question like fill in the blank - Table blank and not one surveyed respondent said cloth it makes me question the mean age and intellect of the respondent. Sorry, I apologize for sounding cruel. However, even by far the worst flaw is the opposite- the amount of times players say answers that should be there but aren't. Sometimes family players yell out obvious answers that turn out not even on the board and end up deprived of points that should rightfully be there. The show actually has two more missteps I feel compelled to point out. In the 3X point bonus that is the round that should feature a survey with the top 8 answers, not just the top 4. This round and round one with 8 answers needed to switched with each other. With the final 3X point round needing only 4 answers to fill in and match the entire survey, the family who buzzes in to guess first had a decided and profoundly unfair advantage. Finally, the bonus round is for 20,000 and according to the show's website that is split 5 ways among the 5 family members playing , automatically by the producers. 3000 a person after taxes is not much these days. Before beloved late host Louie Anderson convinced producers to boost to 20,000 it was 10,000. Now it's 2024, time for producers and their insurers to bump the prize to 100,000! One final nitpick- I wish the show like The Price Is Right followed a casual dress code instead of the formal one even spelled out I believe on the website. As a viewer, I would feel warmer and more invited to see players in jeans and tshirts than in suits, ties, dresses and taking the unfortunate Jeopardy approach to game show style. Now, even with all I said, the show is still quite credibily entertaining. Hey , I just put some knocks on it ( out of love) and I still watch it myself 6 times a day! My score- 7 out of 10.
People Puzzler (2021)
Interesting but seriously flawed
I still watch People Puzzler occasionally. I wanted to love it or even like it a lot but it's too flawed for that. As for the positives, I like Leah Remini and I like that the show has a rule that in effect corrects one of Jeopardy's two main flaws. Unlike Jeopardy, players essentially cannot run up the score. There is no instance of someone slaughtering the other contestants. This is because there is a wonderful rule in place that one can answer more than 3 questions in a row, even if they get everyone correct. There is no rambling off one answer after another and showboating. Perhaps the only drawback of the rule is that a person can lose because the puzzle questions all get filled in while he or she is awaiting his or her next turn. Still the rule is powerful and Jeopardy can learn from it. Now for the real flaws of the show. Two main flaws exist really. The players don't usually seem fairly matched aged wise. They'll do a puzzle like hit songs from the 60's but when 2 contestants are middle- aged but the third is 22 years old and was born in 2002 you can feel the mismatch and the decisive disadvantage for the young person. Likewise, the same happens in reverse when a contestant who is 60 has to try to fill in a puzzle about Gen-Z against a 20 year old who would obviously have the profound advantage in this instance. As for the 2nd flaw, it's the more commom flaw and to me as a viewer permeates every contemporary gameshow, especially stalwarts like Jeopardy and The Price Is Right but sadly it is also prominent here- a distinct advantage gender wise namely favoring male contestants. For example, I notice on People Puzzler when 2 of the 3 contestants are men, when they get to the showdown round where only 2 contestants remain it seems solidly both are men a good 80% of the time ( though I didn't do the math officially yet). Even when women are 2 of the 3 contestants, it seems like the one male player makes it to the bonus round for 10,000 dollars over 50% of the time. Also attending this problem is the seemingly different demeanors along gender lines. The male players seem more know it alls ( even though I think woman are more intuitive than men), and exude not only a tendency to be more animated in their responses but sadly obviously far more arrogant in their responses. Sadly, People Puzzler is not alone in this problem. Again shows like Jeopardy seem to feast on male contestant advantage. I hope one day there can be a new and improved People Puzzler that addresses these gender parity issues. Final analysis- watch as an entertainment but not with the ambition of looking for a show with a fierce sense of competition.
A Dog's Way Home (2019)
Great movie but much left out from the book
I just saw A Dog's Way Home. The movie great and made me cry. Everything was wonderful in the movie but having read the book I noticed many things changed or missing from the movie that was in the book. There was no mention of Sylvia, the near drowning incident, Chloe and her cats , Gavin and Taylor's trip to China or Axel's real cause of death. Just thought I'd point these out though still the movie was great. I even loved the breath-taking scenery.
Please Stand By (2017)
Superb Movie Even Better Than Three Billboards and Lady Bird
I was pleasantly surprised by this fantastic, rather Independent movie. The movie as I said in my headline I believe is better than some major titles. I didn't see the Academy Award Winner , that Water one but I venture to guess that I would prefer this to that also. The movie is poignant, happy, sad, well paced, fantastically directed and of course lifted by the presence of the brilliant Dakota Fanning. I found myself rooting for her character, hoping she'd get the entry in time for the Star Trek contest she is trying to enter. Alice Eve and Toni Colette also deliver commanding performances as Wendy's ( Dakota's) sister and care taker respectively. While the story leaves out a few details like where is Wendy's father , the film is none the less not diminished one bit. The movie takes us to a fantastic and fitting conclusion that teaches us about love and acceptance and finding where you belong in life. I loved the film in every way. Two thumbs enthusiastically way up for this way above average movie!